


The Best Of All Presents

by Nelioe



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Not Related, Birthday Fluff, FiKi December Challenge, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Matchmaker Tauriel, Misunderstandings, mentions of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 09:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5411588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelioe/pseuds/Nelioe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili's birthday approaches and everyone keeps asking him what he wants but he doesn't know what to say because he just wants to spend time with Fili.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Of All Presents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nori_getashovel (vlh114)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vlh114/gifts).



> I needed some prompts for the FiKi December Challenge and [plz-don't-call-me-val](http://plz-dont-call-me-val.tumblr.com/) asked for: "How about it's Kili's birthday and everyone keeps asking him what he wants but he doesn't know what to say because he just wants to spend time with Fili?"
> 
> I hope you like it!

 

 

Kili was busy with grabbing a beer from the fridge, nothing was better than a cold beer after a long day of work, when his phone started to ring. Hurriedly he opened the bottle and took a sip, before casting a glance at the display.

“Hey, mum!” He greeted his mother, while moving over to the couch.

Flopping down on it he reached for the remote, immediately muting the television after turning it on and searching for something that wouldn’t strain his head tonight. After hours in the office he just wanted to watch something completely stupid. No thinking, just watching and laughing at stuff he usually didn’t deem hilarious. So he switched through the channels while his mother asked him about his week and Kili offered only short, neutral answers, too tired to throw himself into a conversation right now. He decided on watching an old episode of a crime series.

“So, your birthday is in a week, sweetie,” Kili grimaced at the nickname, “and you still haven’t told me what you want.”

He tried to ignore the accusatory she used with him, only barely suppressing a sigh. It wasn’t like he didn’t wish for anything, but she wouldn’t be happy with him if he told her, for she couldn’t help with it and if his mother was as keen as mustard about something it were birthdays. Decorations, birthday cards, parties, cake and presents, everything needed to be perfect in her opinion. A perfect day. Since he was living in a city hundreds of kilometres away from her, she was even more eager to gift him with the best of all presents. It was her way of showing him how much she cared and that she hoped he’d have a great birthday even without her _amazing_ _skills_ of turning this special occasion of the year into something memorable.

So telling her that all he wished for was to spend his day with one of his colleagues wouldn’t be received well.

“I really don’t want anything this year,” he repeated the answer he’d given her so often during the last weeks.

“But there has to be something! You can’t spent your birthday without a few well-thought-out presents! How about some new clothes?”

“My wardrobe is already bursting. I actually need to throw some stuff away,” he lied, knowing her taste and that it didn’t meet his.

“How about a movie? You are still into movies, aren’t you?”

“Nothing interesting at the moment.”

“What about your household appliances?”

“All still intact and doing their work.”

“A gift card for when you go out on your birthday?”

“Actually it will be a really long working day, so I will be too tired to go out anyway,” Kili lied, keeping a secret that he’d actually a day off.

This was so pointless. There was nothing he wanted to do, nothing he wished for besides spending his day with Fili. It wouldn’t happen, though. They might be flirting at work, but the brunet was just too shy to ask his colleague to spend the day with him, pretty certain he was going to appear like a creep if he did. He should take it slow, ask him out on a date first and not throw himself at him like that. He’d thrown himself at quite a lot of men in the past and not one relationship afterwards had ended well, for Kili tended to rush into the matters of the heart. People got scared by the speed he wanted relationships to progress and Fili was too important to lose him because of his own impatience.

“I will send you some money then,” his mum said at last, the frustration oozing from her voice.

And before he could tell her he wasn’t in need of money and really didn’t wish for anything, she had already hung up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“So, I’m planning this huge party to celebrate you turning twenty-nine, the last time before the big three comes up,” Tauriel stepped into his office, a radiating smile of excitement covering her features.

Kili looked up, quite busy with typing an important email and frowned at her.

“I told you, I don’t want a party.”

The redhead did a declining gesture with her hand.

“Yeah, you don’t want a party and you don’t want presents, but there has to be something you want, you can’t spent your birthday all alone, that’s far too sad, so there has to be something you wish for and as long as you don’t tell me I will organise a party,” she chattered.

Usually they got along well, Kili would actually go as far and say the young woman had turned into his best friend during the three years he worked for this company, but with this she’d went too far.

“I said this stuff not for you to organise a party, I said them because I don’t want anything!”

Anything besides Fili. Just a day with him, perhaps going to the funfair in the city or having dinner with him in one of these nice little restaurants and watching a movie afterwards or just going for a walk in the city park. Flirting and joking, causing those cute dimples to appear on his face and perhaps steal a kiss when the blond wasn’t expecting it so he could finally stop wondering how his lips might feel. To receive at least an answer to this question if nothing should ever become of them.

“I don’t believe you for a second,” Tauriel replied, yanking him out of his thoughts.

He was kind of thankful for it, since it was so easy to drown in such reveries.

“Well, perhaps you should!” He snapped, wincing at the harshness of his voice, but he couldn’t stop now that he’d started, when his temper rouse there wasn’t anything able to call a halt to it, exact perhaps a pair of gentle blue eyes. “Perhaps everything I want to do is relax on my birthday. Perhaps I want to sleep in and watch telly and all the crap it has to offer. Perhaps I simply want to be alone!”

At first he was sure she was going to shout at him for being a rude arsehole and damn, he deserved it after attacking her like this. Instead the smile slipped from her lips and a sudden look of concern crossed her face.

“Are you alright?” She asked him gently. She was far too kind and he’d no idea how he deserved a friend like her.

Massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly he nodded.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I just really want to be alone on my birthday.”

“Okay,” Tauriel whispered.

She didn’t press and Kili was grateful for it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

If Kili believed Tauriel to give up just like that, then well, what did he know? He was mistaken. The whole rest of the week she prodded him, mentioning stuff like showing up on his doorstep with a home-made cake or _‘how about a Star Wars marathon and eating us sick with sweets?’_ , right up to kidnapping him for a wellness afternoon in a spa. _‘Seriously, Tauriel?’_ Until she even threatened to throw him a surprise party. _‘It’s not a surprise if you tell me, Tauriel.’_

He could always convince her not to, but with each passing day it got worse and worse to reason with people that he didn’t wish for anything, when on every one of them someone beside his best friend tried to persuade him into telling them where and how he wanted to celebrate. Except for Fili. Which was to be expected. The topic of birthdays hadn’t come up so far and therefore the blond couldn’t know about Kili’s approaching birthday. He, on the other hand, was very well informed when his crush had been born, after all it hadn’t been that hard to find out, just a bit of asking around among his colleagues had done the trick.

“So, how about we go out and get hammered?” Gimli asked him during a phone call two day before his birthday.

“I don’t feel like going out, I just want to relax,” Kili didn’t care about whining right now. He’d heard this too often during the last week. Whatever he had to do to be left alone, lying, whining, cursing… he would do so.

“But there has to be something you wish for. Come on, it’s your freaking birthday and you love to celebrate your birthdays. You always want something!” Gimli reasoned, unwilling to give up.

“Well, this time I don’t,” he hissed.

“Kili-“

“No, come on. Work was tough the last month and I really just want a day to relax. You asked what I wish for? That is what I wish.” And definitely not a certain blond in his arms, smiling in this special way only he could, making Kili feel weak in the knees.

It was silent for a while and the brunet prayed and yearned for an end of this tiring topic, until at last there was a sigh at the other end of the line.

“If you say so.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Though he had literally managed to talk everyone into just leaving him alone, when his birthday finally approached Tauriel still wasn’t satisfied with his decision. Getting up in the morning he’d four texts of her with suggestions for them to spend the day, which would, regarding to her, get him to quit being the sad, pouting puppy he tried to mime at the moment. Puppy? Really?

Kili wrote back that he was serious and that he really wanted to be left alone, typing the _really_ in caps to underline his answer, hoping against all odds she would finally let go. For a few hours there was no reply and just in the same moment the brunet was sure to have won this battle once and for all he received a new message.

 _You can’t get out. I’m coming over and we are going to celebrate!_ , it read.

For a few seconds Kili couldn’t do more than stare dumbly at the text, blinking as if it would open up a completely new meaning to him if he just looked at it long enough. However, after the first shock anger surged through his body. Was he talking with a wall? Since a whole week the brunet had told Tauriel that he wanted to be left alone on his birthday. He wanted to be lovesick in private, because he wasn’t allowed to have what he wanted. Now, though, she was going to drag him somewhere and trying to cheer him up, but he didn’t want to cheer up, wanted to wallow in his foul mood and stuff himself with unhealthy food. Why couldn’t she just accept it? What kind of a friend was she, if it wasn’t even possible for her to respect his decision?

At the knock at the door something snapped inside him. This had to be Tauriel.

“Damnit!” He cursed, clomping towards the entrance door. Not even bothering with looking through the peephole and he just yanked the door open. “I don’t want to spend my fucking birthday with you!” Kili practically shouted.

Only to freeze immediately when he realised the person behind the door wasn’t Tauriel. The person was shorter than her, lacking her slim build and his long hair was far more beautiful than hers. Kili’s breath hitched as he spotted Fili. The blond recovered pretty fast from his shock and the smile he’d been wearing at the opening of the door was gone in mere seconds, replaced by what could only be hurt and followed by his own fair share of anger. Probably addressed at himself for coming here just to hear Kili throw such words at him. The brunet thought he was going to be sick.

“Suit yourself!” Fili growled, turning on his heels and hurrying down the stairs before Kili was able to clear up this misunderstanding.

Holy shit! Holy shit! What had he done? Fili had come here, on the brunet’s birthday, perhaps to congratulate, for why else would he visited him instead of working? He must’ve taken the day off as well to surprise him and Kili had just… he’d thought Fili to be Tauriel and…

“You fucking idiot!” Kili cursed himself.

Oh God… he was going to be sick, for real this time. He’d ruined his chances even worse than he’d ever thought possible. There had to be a way to make things right again! He had to… had to… shit… Fili was about to leave the building and he was standing here, doing nothing!

Bolting out of his flat he rushed down the stairs, taking two steps at once. He almost tumbled down because of his speed and what good it would do him, cracking his head open like this. All chances of ever making it up to Fili taken from him, perhaps even ramming him in his fall. Therefore Kili slowed down, not much, but enough to keep himself from tripping over his feet, catching up with the blond when he was just about to leave the building.

“Fili, wait!” He called, getting one hand on his wrist.

And thankfully the other man did, not even trying to shake the brunet’s hand off, it must to be a good sign. It just had to.

“I’m so sorry! I thought you were someone else,” he tried to explain without giving away why his heart was pounding so fast inside his chest, only partly related to the hounding down the stairs. Whatever Fili was thinking right now about him, he didn’t want to make matters worse.

It took a few painful seconds for Fili to turn around. The way the blond raised his brows told Kili he wasn’t believing him.

“Forget it, Kili. I heard it was your birthday and you were going to spent it all alone and I thought it would be a nice idea if we spent the day together, but you don’t need to lie to me now to spare my feelings, you could’ve just talked to me like an adult instead of-“ his voice sounded hurt and frustrated and Kili felt the urge to slap himself for offending Fili.

He knew that Fili had been bullied out of his last job, the blond had only briefly mentioned it, but there was no need of any more words, it had been quite obvious how terrible and painful it must’ve been. Kili had never been bullied, had only seen it happen at school and therefore knew that such experiences could stay with a person for the rest of their lives. Shouting at Fili like this… it was unforgivable and had probably hurt his colleague more than it would’ve anybody else.

“I’m telling the truth!” Kili insisted when Fili freed his hand, the sting shooting through him at the movement caused him to wince slightly.

Fili kept silent, not meeting his eyes. However, since he was still standing here instead of leaving Kili took it as a hint to continue.

“It’s just-” he started, trying to find the right words, but in the end he just sighed. “Everyone in the office, my mum, my friends… they all kept asking me, what I want for my birthday and I told them there wasn’t anything I wished for besides… it doesn’t matter. Anyway, Tauriel just didn’t want to accept it and right before you knocked I got a message from her telling me she was about to come over and I thought you were her and I was so pissed off at her, that I… that I just exploded. I’m so sorry it hit you of all people. Please, believe me,” he begged. When he had a hard time reading Fili’s expression he reached for his phone tucked in his pocket. “I can show you her message if you don’t believe me!”

“No! It’s okay! I believe you. I probably exaggerated,” Fili replied.

Kili nearly teared up with relief at the answer.

“No! It was my fault, really. I should’ve checked the peephole instead of venting on you.”

A small smile crept to Fili’s lips at that and Kili returned it. Just for silence to take over the staircase.

“Um… I think I will go then,” the blond said after terrible moments of awkward silence.

It needed every little bit of Kili’s self-control to prevent himself from whining pathetically at those words.

“Just-” Kili met Fili’s gaze hopefully. “What it is that you wish for? You said it doesn’t matter, but I think it does. I mean, it’s really sad you would decide to spend your birthday all by yourself because of it.”

He should just tell him the truth. Their relationship was most likely already doomed after today’s disaster, if the awkward silence had been anything to go by, so it would be hard to worsen it even more. Still, it felt kind of weird making this confession.

“All I want for my birthday is to spend it with you.”

A look of utter surprise crossed Fili’s features.

“Really?”

Kili nodded.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well,” he struggled for words, “I didn’t want to push you into anything, I guess. I mean, I know we’ve been flirting, but that was it and I tend to get obsessed over things like that pretty fast and I get impatient and push people into stuff they aren’t ready for and… and I just didn’t want to do that to you.”

Fili stared at him in awe, causing Kili to blush fiercely while he was left wondering if something else might have slipped past his lips than what he thought. And damn, seeing him standing there it was so hard to keep the distance. He wanted to kiss those lips and find out how his beard and hair would feel in his hands, if the blond was truly going to fit so perfectly pressed against his body as Kili always imagined he would.  Was it even possible for a human being to want someone as much as Kili wanted Fili?

A chuckle yanked him back to reality.

“The next time ignore that voice telling you to go slow, okay?” Fili grinned as Kili’s heart filled with so much warmth and hope he almost waited for it to burst. “I would love to spend your birthday with you.”

It was Fili who bridged that little bit of distance separating him, carefully cupping the brunet’s head in his hands and pulling him in for a kiss. His arms wrapped around the blond almost on instinct and the feeling of a warm body pressed against his, of smelling shampoo, deodorant and one certain smell that was all Fili, was better than everything he could imagine. His lips were soft and tasted sweet, although Kili couldn’t say if it came from anything the other man had eaten or because he was making it up in his euphoria.

They stood like that for quite some time, despite the smile Kili just couldn’t supress hampering the kisses – just to feel Fili smile into his lips as well was worth it – when the brunet received another text.

Breaking the kiss he glanced at his phone, immediately realising he had to buy a bouquet of flowers for Tauriel before next week’s work started:

 _Surprise!_ ;) 

 

 


End file.
